Scorched_Ice's 5.5

Well yesterday morning around 7 I started on the Nano reef Project Ive been waiting so patiently to start. Over the last month Ive been picking up my items to put it together, and now I have almost everything.

About a week back I started by painting the back of the tank (thanks to Chyendra for the idea and tips on the paint). I love how it turned out.

Heres how it was painted. After that dried I then painted the entire back black.

Where the hell do you snowboard in Cent. Wis????? Behind a truck j/k

Can't wait to see another 5.5!

Yesterday I had my moms friend come over with his little table saw and help me construct the base and canopy. Ive had a few years of shop class at school so it wasnt to bad putting it together. We only made one mistake putting it together. We ended up measuring the length of the tank as 16" and we cut the inside the same length so when we tried to place the tank on top it just set nicely inside and the hood slid down the front. There were a few choice words but after tanking out a few nails and recutting everything it turned out great. He could only stay for a few hours in the morning as he had to get to work so we really didnt have time to take any pictures while we were building it but I got a few once we were done.

Well theres a Mountain (more like a hill) called Granite Peak www.skigranitepeak.com and it has a good variety of skill runs and 3 trick parks. If you want a few pics on me boarding I'll post a few.

Nothing like Mt Hood probably. Id be awesome to take a trip out there next year.

Well back to this.

After a little toying around with the wiring and sockets for the lights we unhooked everything and I started the painting and sanding (my favorite part)

Heres the prime coat

Painted the inside the glossiest white I could find. I still might add another thin coat of clear gloss (will this help any?)

After that I masked off the inside and painted the outside a bold gloss black. Heres the finished result.

nice start besure to use some minwax SPAR on the wood and silicone the edges of whre the wood joins. you will be suprised how easy salt creeps inthere and splits your wood

Thanks for that tip.

Very nice! I love the hood and base combo. It frames the tank well when you're not useing a stand... I haven't started my base.. I need to get that done

Thanks for the comments Chyendra. Ya it wont have a large stand but go on my dresser in my room or on the living room end table, whichever looks better and more people will be able to see.

Well tonight I had some time to fool with the wiring. I didnt completely finish it yet but here a picture of what I have. I still need to add the metal reflector. I only have 2 bulbs now but I added a 3rd socket for when I'm ready for coral.

For you DIY moonlight people I have the EASIEST one ever. A 4 watt flourescent light fixture (you can use 4 AA batteries or use an AC adaptor) and a 4 watt blacklight. Change the bulb and your done

Here it is put together.

keep the pictures coming:P

Nice! This is exactly what I want to do. I will also be using screw in CF. I have a few questions about your hood and base.

What type of wood did you use?

Is it screwed, nailed, or glued together?

Are the edges beveled?

What are they dimensions of the hood and base?

How does the blacklight look? Any pictures?

Thanks

Thanks for the comments. Today I'm using the spray Minwax SPAR so I cant really do much on it til it dries for 24 hours.

Grego the wood I used was 3/4" project pine. The top was 1/4"

The dimensions are 17" by 8 3/4". A rabbit was cut on the top of the base 7/8" down and 1/2" in. For the back I kept it flush and used a brace for support to allow the bottom to be open. I did this so I have room from timers, cords, and power strips. The base is 5" Tall. The corners where cut at 45s and nailed using very thin finishing nails (used a nail gun, but Im sure a hammer would do just as well). Nailed from both the front and side of each corner. Wood glue was also used. The top is 6" tall. Same rabbit was cut on the bttom to cover the lip of the tank. The top was cut with a rabbit 1/2" in and 1/4" down. The top piece is 8 1/2" by 16 1/2". A back was also put in the canopy so less light would leak out the back. The piece is 15 1/2" by 3" The also allows for a 2" clearance so the filter and cords can still fit. Small strips were also nailed inside so glass could be placed on top to fully enclose the lights. A 1/2" hole was drilled for the light cords.

I plugged the blacklight in last night on is own and turned the lights off in my room and its not overly bright but gives a nice faint glow (none of the spotlight effect that leds would give)

Here a picture of the back.

I'll test the lights out a little bit tomorrow once everything is pretty much finished and if they get to hot I'll drill about an 1" hole in both the left and right back so small fans can be mounted inside.

Grego or others - Heres the dimensions and a little diagram of the base and canopy.

You are not going to like this, but black lights are not really that good for reef tanks. Something about the light spectrum. Please look further into this before using the black light. Try RC for more information. Again I am no expert but this is what I have heard. I would like to say that you have a great looking tank setup.

Well I went on RC and did a google search and this is what Ive found:

"Black lights produce FAR less UV light than the sun (especially equitorial sun). They also produce almost entirely UV A (as opposed to UV B or C). UV A is relatively harmless. UV B is what causes us to tan and is harmful in large amounts. UV C is extremely powerful and deadly to most things within minutes The Ozone and Atmosphere nulify all traces of UV C on earth, any UV C found on earth is produced by artifical means, some UV sterilizers used in aquariums use this same light, so any small traces of the much less harmful UV A would do almost nothing to corals."

"Also, black lights produce far less UV light (of any wavelength) than the metal halide bulbs we all use on a regular basis."

"UV light is dangerous, but the amount of UV that flourescent bulbs can produce is negligable. In addition, they can not produce any viable amounts of UV-B."

"Black lights are not nearly as powerful as a VHO bulb, and are probeably going to be used as a "night light"; so alone they do no harm, and in conjuction with a metal halide, it is the halide that is harmful."

"If someone can run a 400 watt halide and not have any adverse effects, it is highly unlikely that a few extra watts of a weak black light would do any harm."

A 4 Watt Blacklight sounds fairly safe to me. Its only going to be used for 2-3 hours after the normal PCs go out so I have something to look at if I'm still up. I dont need them to run while I'm asleep as they are mainly there for the "cool" factor.

Hey, one of those quotes is mine!!!

The problem with a blacklight is that it wont shine throught the top layers of the waters very well at all. I tried it once, it jsut made the tank look like thick purple fog...the light didnt go more than 3"...and it didnt really even make anything stand out like you would expect.

I have found that blacklights will make your water look greenish. (more powerful - 20w) They also make everything glow (like actinics). I'm not sure, but the UV from it may disturb the inhabitants, as UV is only present when the sun is up. (and MANY animals can see UV)

"Black lights are not nearly as powerful as a VHO bulb, and are probeably going to be used as a "night light"; so alone they do no harm, and in conjuction with a metal halide, it is the halide that is harmful."

Halide bulb do give off uv, but it never reaches you. Single ended halided have UV shielding on the outer tube. Double ended bulbs are designed to be used with a UV shield in place. So, since blacklights aren't shielded, they probably give off more UV, but it's too little and too low spectrum to do any damage.